As computer technology continues to become more pervasive, businesses are all but required to implement computer software into some aspect of their operations. However, installing and managing software can be an expensive undertaking that requires an expertise that many businesses do not have, and do not desire to obtain. As a mechanism for servicing businesses in need of software, but have no desire to install or manage it, software as a service (“SaaS”) was developed. SaaS is a software distribution model where a third-party provider hosts applications and makes them available to customers over the Internet through a web browser. SaaS may remove the need for businesses to install and manage applications on their own computers or in their own data centers.
Businesses that use electronic cash registers (“ECR”) often use SaaS applications to interface with their ECRs. Additionally, businesses that use ECRs often accept check and credit card payments from customers by using an electronic payment terminal to process those types of payments. Data collection and other communication issues may occur when businesses use SaaS applications and ECRs to manage their payment terminals, because SaaS applications for ECRs, and the web browsers they employ, are typically not designed to communicate directly with payment terminals. In such situations, businesses are limited to either using a payment terminal specifically designed to work with an ECR's software, or face the inefficient and cumbersome task of gathering and reconciling data from multiple sources. Therefore, there is a long-felt but unresolved need for a system or method that can control, update, and communicate with payment terminals via a web browser.